Wine, Wind, Whales & Water
After Rotorua we headed across to the E coast to the Hawkes bay Wine area. A quick pilgrimage stop at Gisborne and just up the coast to the small village of Whangara where we could take a photo opportunity of the morae, meeting house and coastline that was Whale Rider - by the way the book is a great read too.
After that we chilled for a couple of days in the art deco capital of the world (OK so Miami citizens might complain about that last phrase!) and took in an excellent Hawkes Bay winery tour. Of course it was a coach tour because it was definitely a case of "swallow, not spit"!
Then the weather changed for the worst - firstly gale force winds lashed the bottom of the North Isle (where we were) and the top of the South Isle (where we were heading). So rather than a whirlwind tour of Wellington we caught the ferry a day early when the winds were just under gale force (as opposed to Strong Gale forecast for the next day). Of course the crossing as a millpond - completely the opposite to the days driving either side when we regretted having such a small high sided van.
Down the E coast of the S Island we headed for Christchurch but spent a day or so at Kiakoura. Great boat trip (the first for a couple of days because of the weather) showed us 2 Sperm Whale, about 200 leaping Dusky Dolphin and albatrosses including the Wandering Albatross (world's largest wingspan)
A quick stop at Christchurch to catch the Royal New Zealand (agricultural) Show and on down to Dunedin via Oamaru to watch the Blue Penguins return home from the sea (Liz say "They were so cute!"). Apres les ventes, le deluge - Dunedin didn't so much as rain as just sit immersed in cloud - it was bitterly cold and the moisture seeped everywhere. Still most of the rest of NZ was undergoing floods so I suppose it could be worse. So the stay in Dunedin (a city reminiscent of grey, dour Scottish cities so the weather was appropriate) was curtailed and we pressed on the Invercargill where this comes from
After that we chilled for a couple of days in the art deco capital of the world (OK so Miami citizens might complain about that last phrase!) and took in an excellent Hawkes Bay winery tour. Of course it was a coach tour because it was definitely a case of "swallow, not spit"!
Then the weather changed for the worst - firstly gale force winds lashed the bottom of the North Isle (where we were) and the top of the South Isle (where we were heading). So rather than a whirlwind tour of Wellington we caught the ferry a day early when the winds were just under gale force (as opposed to Strong Gale forecast for the next day). Of course the crossing as a millpond - completely the opposite to the days driving either side when we regretted having such a small high sided van.
Down the E coast of the S Island we headed for Christchurch but spent a day or so at Kiakoura. Great boat trip (the first for a couple of days because of the weather) showed us 2 Sperm Whale, about 200 leaping Dusky Dolphin and albatrosses including the Wandering Albatross (world's largest wingspan)
A quick stop at Christchurch to catch the Royal New Zealand (agricultural) Show and on down to Dunedin via Oamaru to watch the Blue Penguins return home from the sea (Liz say "They were so cute!"). Apres les ventes, le deluge - Dunedin didn't so much as rain as just sit immersed in cloud - it was bitterly cold and the moisture seeped everywhere. Still most of the rest of NZ was undergoing floods so I suppose it could be worse. So the stay in Dunedin (a city reminiscent of grey, dour Scottish cities so the weather was appropriate) was curtailed and we pressed on the Invercargill where this comes from
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